When I first got the phone call from my wife to say it had arrived I had imagined a D cell Maglite sized torch. I got home and straight away looked for the package, to my amazement I was looking at a package smaller than a tissue box.
After digging out the well packaged and protected torch I was glad to see that the TK45 is not much longer than the palm of my hand with the lens assembly of the torch being all that stuck out. Once I had opened the strong well sealed and fitted plastic storage box my five year old son asked to have a look. I should have known better, but instead I gave him the torch. Not more than five seconds later it hit the tiles from about one meter high. Thinking the worst I was very pleasantly surprised to see that the black anodized aluminium body had done its job and protected the three CREE XP-G R5 LED’s, the finish wasn’t even scratched.
The TK45 is as listed by Fenix;
weighing 324 grams excluding the eight AA Batteries takes.
202mm (length) x 39.2mm (Diameter) x 56mm (head).
Waterproof to IPX-8 Standards.
Max beam length of 200m.
Digitally regulated output.
On to the testing; the first thing I did was go out the front of my house and shine it at everyone else’s house.
The first photo is the TK45 on turbo power (760 Lumen).
The first photo is the P7 on high.
Now for my personal feelings of the Fenix TK45;
I like the feel of the aluminium body, it is comfortable to hold and doesn’t feel too bulky.
The use of the multi lens head seems rather strange but innovative and it seems to work well.
The use of two buttons to control the functions of the TK45 is a good idea, but it takes a bit of time to get used steering the torch.
The button on the left controls output levels and toggles between the three flashing modes, SOS, Strobe, and Flash.
The right button turns the unit on and off, but if you turn it on, then press the right hand button twice it puts the TK45 into flash mode.
The TK45 has a last use memory function. When a mode has been used for more than two seconds before switching off it becomes the first mode selected when the torch is turned back on. I really like this as I don’t want to be toggling through all the modes if I only want one function every time.
Understanding that the unit I have is a sample only I was disappointed that the TK45 wasn’t supplied with a belt holster of some description. It should fit a general purpose scabbard that can be bought cheaply, but for a torch of this quality I would expect it to come with its’ own well fitting one.
The best part so far seems to be the durability of the unit. You would definitely expect this from a more upmarket torch like the TK45.
Fenix claim that you will get two hours of continuous burn time on turbo mode. I haven’t let the unit run for that long but I certainly have used it a lot in the past few days and it isn’t showing any signs of dwindling light yet. The supplied batteries are Duracell Procell AA.
Price. I’m not aware of the RRP for the TK45 but I would imagine that a unit like this one would have to cost twice as much as the P7 I have. I’m no torch expert but I feel that it is of good quality and it certainly seems worth a few $100’s.
If anyone has any Q’s I’ll monitor this topic and try to answer as best I can.
Just last night the TK45 was used to stalk up on this dog fox taken at about 60m with a 17hmr.
Thanks Brenden